Prove Me Wrong
by SpritelyGryffindor
Summary: "The things you said yesterday-I'm not like that, I'm not like Voldemort-half the things I said...I wasn't serious. I would never blackmail you into dating me, I'm not that kind of guy." "In the five years I've known you Potter, you've never proven me wrong. I'm done wasting my time on you" "But you are wrong! Evans, you're wrong!" "Then prove it."


It was a gorgeous Saturday at Hogwarts. Term had just started and sixth- year Lily Evans was less than enthused about the amount of homework she had. The girl had spent all day in the library working on an essay but when the sun began to set she finally gave up and decided to wander the grounds for a bit.

The girl walked out the doors and took a deep breath of the autumn air, enjoying the slight chill as the library had always been far too hot and stuffy for her tastes.

As Lily strolled across the grounds, her bag slung over her shoulder, she contemplated visiting Hagrid's house. After a moment's debate she decided there was still enough daylight left to do so and began walking towards his hut.

There weren't many students about, they'd all been out earlier in the day, when it was brighter and warmer out and Lily enjoyed the peace of their absence. The red head walked by the lake and a couple of snogging Ravenclaws, moving at a leisurely pace. It wasn't until she reached the forest that she sensed that something was off. She heard angry voices coming from just inside the branches and a spell whizzed through the air in front of her, nearly hitting her in the face.

Lily froze. Should she run and get Hagrid? Then she heard a familiar drawl that she knew could only belong to one person. Adjusting her bag, Lily marched into the tree line and sure enough, there was Potter and his gang, tormenting a boy in Slytherin robes. A strange sense of Déjà vu swept over her as she realized that the victim was Severus and her mind jumped to the end of last school year, where her friendship with the Slytherin had ended.

"Potter," she said loudly and the boy looked over at her, seeming surprised.

"Hello, Evans!" he said as if he _weren't_ dangling her ex-best friend upside down by the ankle.

"Potter," Lily said coldly. "Stop it."

James frowned.

"Surely you can't still _like_ this slimeball. We caught him reading a dark arts book today, the git's bloody proud of himself and his death eater pals."

"You've done enough to him," said Lily firmly. They had too, all those years of taunts and torment…they had done more than enough. It didn't matter what Snape was doing with his time, the four boys would always find an excuse to bully him and Lily had had enough.

"Just stop," she said.

"I'll stop if you go out with me," James replied. The same cocky grin was etched across his face as always and Lily knew he was taking the whole situation as a joke, just like always. She narrowed her eyes.

She had torn apart the lake incident so many times and had run through what she wished she'd said to James over and over. She'd done it so many times that she had a speech etched into her mind, a speech explained the _real _reason she refused to ever date the toe rag named James Potter.

Since the start of term her anger at him had grown hotter every time he asked her out but she kept quiet, as his actions were never quite bad enough for him to earn the tongue lashing that she had prepared. Now though, the time had come for Lily Evans to speak her mind, and she knew without a doubt that it was long overdue.

Lily did not reach for her wand, nor did she shout. The red head merely walked forward calmly towards James, who looked confused by the reaction. He kept his wand trained on Snape, so the boy wouldn't escape, but he was looking at the approaching girl with a question in his eyes. The marauders stood off to the sideline, intrigued. Remus looked wary and embarrassed, Peter looked nervous, and Sirius smirked, looking forward to seeing things play out.

Lily stopped a foot away from the James and her emerald eyes gazed into his with an icy coldness that made James's heart sink.

"You know, Potter, there's another man that does what you're doing right now, a man that promises not to hurt select individuals in exchange for servitude. This man that uses blackmail to get what he wants, never once thinking about the damage it does to others. The only difference I can see between you and the man you supposedly hate, is that Voldemort does not blackmail people for sexual favors. So far as I'm aware, he hasn't yet stooped that low."

James's wand fell to his side and his face went pale. Snape fell to the ground and reached for his wand, preparing to strike James while he was frozen, but Lily stepped between them.

"I have plenty of things to say to you as well, Snape. Would you like me to say them in front of Potter and his gang, or are you willing to be the bigger person for _once_ and walk away?"

Snape looked into the eyes of the girl he cared for more than anyone in the world. It killed him to see that she was looking at him with the same hatred that she had turned on his enemy only moments before.

He knew better than to beg at this point, he simply stood up and left.

Lily turned slowly to look at the marauders, who were still standing off to the sidelines. Peter looked uncomfortable and Sirius was glaring at Lily. Remus was holding Sirius's shoulder tightly and it occurred to Lily that that was probably the only reason the boy hadn't started shouting yet. Lily decided to take advantage of the silence to throw in one parting shot.

"Four against one, boys? And here I thought you were Gryffindors."

She glanced at James one more time before turning and walking elegantly out of the forest. She was angry, yes, but finally putting those bullies in their place was oddly liberating. She doubted it would last, but it really wasn't her problem either way. Lily Evans was proud to say that she'd washed her hands of the marauders for good.

Walking quickly so none of the boys could chase her down, Lily finished her walk to Hagrid's hut.


End file.
